PHP Cookbook: Solutions and Examples for PHP Programmers Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy PHP Cookbook: Solutions and Examples for PHP Programmers? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on PHP Cookbook: Solutions and Examples for PHP Programmers. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

PHP Cookbook: Solutions and Examples for PHP Programmers ReviewThis is my first O'Reilly book in the "Cookbook" series. At first I thought this book would probably contain the code and instructions for building a couple of web applications such as a shopping cart or a blog engine. This isn't that book. Rather it provides the reader with code snippets that can be used as building blocks for all kinds of applications. If I had to describe this book in one sentence I would say it is as if the author took down all the "Hmm..., I wonder how that is done?" questions and created an answer key.
One thing I like about this book is that the authors don't waste the first few chapters trying to teach or give an overview of the language. Instead they hop right into the usage of the language that relates to real world stuff.
So here is a brief overview. The book covers PHP 5 and goes over many of the new and improved features. The first six chapters provide recipes for more basic subjects (strings, numbers, dates & times, arrays, variables, and functions. Again, this isn't an intro to PHP, that is another book such as Programming PHP from O'Reilly. This is that book you reach for once you have moved from PHP basics and are ready to build some real world stuff.
By chapter seven the authors are discussing classes and objects. I like using classes when coding in C++, so this is a good chapter for those who like OOP. The next nine chapters go over web stuff starting out with basic things like cookies, forms, and databases. Then the authors go into more advanced areas like session management, XML, automation and web services (REST, SOAP, Mail, FTP, LDAP, and DNS to name a few).
The next chapter [17] is on the topic of graphics. This is a cool chapter if you like to create dynamic images. Things like creating a button image on the fly, or generating charts. Graphics are great to have a knowledge of because everyone likes graphical presentation of data and this chapter can help you get there.
Chapter 18 is on security and encryption which I found rather helpful. No one wants there web application to be the link that allows data to be compromised, and this chapter deals with many of those problem areas. Chapter 19 covers localization, chapter 20 is on debugging and testing. The debugging section does a great job of getting a person setup with the tools they need to properly debug an application including creating your own exception class. This is an outstanding chapter that every programmer can appreciate since every application needs debugging.
The remaining chapters cover performance tuning, regular expressions, files, directories, command line PHP, PERL and PECL. Being a Perl guy I found it interesting to see how the authors utilized regular expressions in PHP. And the chapter on command-line PHP was outstanding; I thought the recipe for creating a PHP command shell was pretty cool.
CONCLUSION
--
This book is like having the answer key to most of the random questions a person comes up with when writing code. I found this book to be very useful, it will be one of those references that I keep close, and gets very little shelf time. It is a solid book. It is hard to say what parts I liked best because this is one of those books that you like and must have, but then as time goes on and you use it more and more its value grows. This is an excellent book and I would strongly recommend it the PHP users that want to move to the next level.PHP Cookbook: Solutions and Examples for PHP Programmers Overview
When it comes to creating dynamic web sites, the open source PHP language is red-hot property: used on more than 20 million web sites today, PHP is now more popular than Microsoft's ASP.NET technology. With our Cookbook's unique format, you can learn how to build dynamic web applications that work on any web browser. This revised new edition makes it easy to find specific solutions for programming challenges.

PHP Cookbook has a wealth of solutions for problems that you'll face regularly. With topics that range from beginner questions to advanced web programming techniques, this guide contains practical examples -- or "recipes" -- for anyone who uses this scripting language to generate dynamic web content. Updated for PHP 5, this book provides solutions that explain how to use the new language features in detail, including the vastly improved object-oriented capabilities and the new PDO data access extension. New sections on classes and objects are included, along with new material on processing XML, building web services with PHP, and working with SOAP/REST architectures. With each recipe, the authors include a discussion that explains the logic and concepts underlying the solution.


Want to learn more information about PHP Cookbook: Solutions and Examples for PHP Programmers?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Testing ASP.NET Web Applications (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Testing ASP.NET Web Applications (Wrox Programmer to Programmer)? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Testing ASP.NET Web Applications (Wrox Programmer to Programmer). Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Testing ASP.NET Web Applications (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) ReviewI got a copy of "Testing ASP.NET Web Applications" a while ago but it's taken me some time to get through it because I wanted to dedicate the time and attention to it that it needed. There really aren't many decent books that discuss testing all different aspects of web applications (though there are several dedicated specifically to security testing). The content in this book is something I've been trying to find for a long time in a format aggregated all together in one place and, despite a few rough edges, I'll be recommending it to my QA friends this year.
I'll run down the content chapter by chapter so you can see what's inside and decide for yourself.
CHAPTER 1: PRELIMINARY CONCERNS
The first chapter gives a nice, concise history of testing tools starting from sUnit (Smalltalk unit testing) and bringing us through today, so you can see where we've been. It also provides a really nice terminology list. I may have to blow the terminology list up and attach it to my wall so I can point to it and make sure in discussions that everyone's on the same page, talking about the same thing. Finally, there's a good test-related "mythbusters" section you can use to get testing moving forward in your organization.
CHAPTER 2: DESIGN AND TESTABILITY
This chapter starts off with a summary overview of what makes a good unit test. I agreed with some points and disagreed with others, but the qualities that "make a good unit test" are sort of a religious debate that people can't agree on - for example, naming conventions. That said, they revisit what makes a good unit test at the end with a checklist of sorts that is really good. They talk about the design of your code and how it affects testability, discussing the SOLID design principles, and test smells (fragile tests, slow tests, etc.) you might encounter. They do touch lightly on pair programming and test driven development in this chapter (saving the details for the next chapter) but they don't discuss it in a dogmatic way, which is a nice change from most articles you'll read on the subject.
There is a section on refactoring in chapter 2 that felt somewhat out of place, like they wanted to relate the refactoring examples to how easy refactoring can be if you design your code well, but it really felt bolted on and distracting.
CHAPTER 3: UNIT TESTING AND TEST DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT
The chapter on unit testing and TDD should have been one of the best chapters, but it wasn't as helpful as I'd hoped it would be. Since this is an ASP.NET specific book, the aim of the chapter should have been to explain how to get testing running in ASP.NET - web forms and MVC. Of the 50 pages in the chapter, about two talk about web forms and the model-view-presenter way of separating concerns and getting web forms testable. The rest of the time is spent on ASP.NET MVC and setting up an example application that gets used through the rest of the book. While I agree with the authors that MVC is a far more testable framework, that doesn't help the people who have legacy applications or who are otherwise stuck on web forms. There is a tiny bit at the end that basically says, "It's not worth much to try retrofitting unit tests to web forms" (without saying those exact words). I feel like there was a huge opportunity missed.
As for MVC, the authors suggest a different "default project structure" than the one provided by ASP.NET MVC out of the box, and I only partially agree with the proposal. The idea is sound, but it would be nice to see things in a stock fashion since a new project structure really only applies to Greenfield work.
The walkthrough of creating the demo application is very valuable and shows the red/green/refactor process of test driven development well. If you're unfamiliar with this process, it's good to see it. Of course, they also introduce a lot of patterns and concepts very quickly with little ceremony (e.g., the repository pattern, NHibernate usage, etc.) and that's a lot to take in, so be patient.
CHAPTER 4: INTEGRATION TESTING
This chapter is a pretty short chapter and talks about the differences between unit testing and integration testing, then runs through adding some integration tests to the sample application so you can get a feel for doing that.
CHAPTER 5: AUTOMATED USER INTERFACE TESTING
This chapter breaks down the different types of functional testing and talks about the benefits, drawbacks, and challenges of automating the UI. The discussion of challenges is really good, listing different ways your UI automation tests can fail. It definitely gives you something to think about as you head down this road.
They break down different tools and approaches to UI testing with a primary focus on WatiN, Visual Studio Web Tests, and Selenium usage. They then show how to apply these tools to automating the sample application so you can see them in action. (There is also a section on qUnit - unit testing for JavaScript - at the end of the chapter, but it's really thin and feels like an afterthought.)
During the automation of the sample app, there is a little bit of distraction as the authors get a little lost in the weeds introducing test data generators with fluent interfaces right in the middle. For automated UI testing you do need some test data to populate the system with, but it's really confusing and distracting plopped right in the middle of everything.
CHAPTER 6: ACCEPTANCE TESTING
The chapter on acceptance testing starts off with some good terminology, but then dives into Scrum project management methodology. It feels like they're taking you on a ride, but if you have a little faith, you'll see how they bring you back around to testing. It's a worthwhile detour, even if it feels a little abrupt.
They focus on FitNesse and Cucumber as the two acceptance testing frameworks and show you how to get each running. I read the FitNesse section twice and still didn't really get it. There were lots of wiki screen shots and tiny code snippets, but nothing that was complete enough. It took skipping forward to the example section and once I got it, I started questioning if the work involved was really worth it. On the other hand, Cucumber seemed reasonably straightforward (though it, too, didn't come clear until seeing a real example rather than just reading about it in hypothetical terms).
I'm not sure the acceptance testing chapter accomplished for me what it set out to. After seeing all of the work and "glue code" required to get the business users the ability to write tests, I wondered if it might be time better spent getting them to write use case documents and having the developers write WatiN tests to associate with those documents. (Of course, in thinking that, maybe I missed the point.)
CHAPTER 7: MANUAL TESTING
This chapter talks about the things to look for in manual testing - usability, documentation, error messages - as well as scenarios you might look for - session timeouts, disconnected/down services, network issues, etc. It provides a few tools that can help you in manual testing and explains how to document manual test cases. It's not a long chapter, but it's nice to formalize some of this stuff, or at least give teams a place to start discussing. "Manual testing" isn't just "jump in and start clicking buttons."
CHAPTER 8: PERFORMANCE TESTING
Of all the chapters in the book, this one was my favorite. It starts off by giving a high-level description of what performance testing is and then it dives right in. There is some great guidance on establishing baselines and expectations as well as capturing requirements. It gives you a lot to think about and discuss with your customers around performance and gives a good set of questions to ask about it.
They provide a great list of tools you can use to measure performance and shows a sample run of each one. I was really happy with this bit because it was like having someone evaluate all of these tools for you, show you the outputs, and help you decide which one you like best. Really helpful.
They outline the components of a performance test environment and explain some of the relevant performance counters you should watch when running tests and what they mean.
Finally, they correlate performance testing with capacity planning so you can take the numbers you record and start figuring out what kind of resources you'll need to address your site's target audience.
CHAPTER 9: ACCESSIBILITY TESTING
Right after the chapter on performance testing, this was my next favorite chapter. There's a nice "accessibility mythbusters" section to disprove common misconceptions about accessibility and the web and a good discussion about the benefits of making your site accessible.
One of the nice bits about this chapter is that they take the time to discuss a few of the disabilities that people visiting your site might have and then provide simulated screen shots showing what users with these disabilities might be seeing. (Granted, the book is printed in black and white so the screen shots showing "color blindness" are less than effective, but the rest are good.)
They talk about several things you might see in web sites - images, graphs, forms, lists - and how to make them accessible. They also talk about other things to look for like acronym usage and CAPTCHA and how those aren't accessible. While they touch briefly on audio/visual media, not much help is offered beyond descriptions of what you could possibly do (not how to do it). Same thing with JavaScript - they talk a bit about what to do and what not to do, but don't really show any examples...Read more›Testing ASP.NET Web Applications (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) Overview
A unique resource that combines all aspects of Web testing and makes it completely specific to ASP.NET

As Microsoft's key Web technology for creating dynamic, data-driven Web sites and Web applications, ASP.NET is incredibly popular. This is the first book to combine several testing topics and make them specific to ASP.NET. The author duo of Microsoft MVPs covers both the test-driven development approach and the specifics of automated user interface testing; performance, load, and stress testing; accessibility testing; and security testing.
This definitive guide walks you through the many testing pitfalls you might experience when developing ASP.NET applications. The authors explain the fundamental concepts of testing and demystify all the correct actions you need to consider and the tools that are available so that you may successfully text your application.
Author duo of Microsoft MVPs offer a unique resource: a combination of several testing topics and making them specific to ASP.NET, Microsoft's key Web technology for creating dynamic, data-driven Web sites and applications
Guides you through the many testing pitfalls you may experience when developing ASP.NET applications
Reviews the fundamental concepts of testing and walks you through the various tools and techniques available and for successfully testing an application
Discusses several different types of testing: acceptance, stress, accessibility, and security
Examines various testing tools, such as nUnit, VS test suite, WCAT, Selenium, Fiddler, Firebug, and more

This one-of-a-kind resource will help you become proficient in successfull application testing.

Want to learn more information about Testing ASP.NET Web Applications (Wrox Programmer to Programmer)?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Learning Ext JS 3.2 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Learning Ext JS 3.2? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Learning Ext JS 3.2. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Learning Ext JS 3.2 ReviewThis book was a great way for me to get up to speed on an Ext JS project I was thrown into. The chapters build on each other without jumping too far ahead. I was able to start working on my project right away, while working through the chapters at the same time. The examples in the book seem a bit simple and contrived at first, but as I gained a better understanding of Ext JS I started to see why they were written the way they were - the principles used in the examples scale up to more complex Ext JS usage. It's a fun read as well, the authors sense of humor is apparent in his writing, which helped to keep me interested.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who needs to quickly learn how to use Ext JS.
Learning Ext JS 3.2 OverviewThe book provides plenty of fun example code and screenshots to guide you through the creation of examples to assist with learning. By taking a chapter-by-chapter look at each major aspect of the Ext JS framework, the book lets you digest the available features in small, easily understandable chunks, allowing you to start using the library for your development needs immediately. This book is written for Web Application Developers who are familiar with HTML but may have little to no experience with JavaScript application development. If you are starting to build a new web application, or are re-vamping an existing web application, then this book is for you.

Want to learn more information about Learning Ext JS 3.2?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Apache Wicket Cookbook Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Apache Wicket Cookbook? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Apache Wicket Cookbook. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Apache Wicket Cookbook ReviewThis isn't a casual introduction to Wicket - it's much, much more useful than that. This book is aimed squarely at someone who has picked up the basics of the framework and now has some real-world problems to solve. If you've ever asked questions on the mailing lists for Wicket, you'll know that the author (Igor) is exceptionally active and helpful there. His experience helping people through various common issues and use cases for web development on the mailing lists really shines through in the selection of examples and "recipes" in the book.
The Apache Wicket Cookbook covers a really useful and diverse set of functionality, from preventing multiple form submits and security issues to chart visualization and making your site look pretty. I really like the way that each recipe is presented in sections: "Getting ready", which contains skeleton code before the addition of the functionality; "How to do it...", which has the meat; "How it works...", which explains things concisely but thoroughly; and "There's more..." with often invaluable extra coverage of how to extend or override the functionality in the best way. It's easy to digest, superbly thought out and gives you a good framework to grasp all the information quickly.
This is an excellent book - it's jam-packed with useful content and avoids the verbose and pompous language so popular with many technical authors. It works both as a dip-in-and-out reference and as an in-depth guide to some parts of the Wicket framework that are difficult to uncover for yourself. I was a developer on the core Wicket team until a couple of years ago, so hopefully I know what I'm talking about: Quite simply, if you create applications with Wicket, you should have a copy of this book on your desk.Apache Wicket Cookbook OverviewThis is a hands-on practical guide to a large variety of topics and use cases. This book tries to use real-world examples when possible, but is not afraid to come up with a contrived pretext if it makes explaining the problem simpler. Unlike a lot of other books, this one does not try to maintain a continuous theme from chapter to chapter, such as demonstrating solutions on the same fictional application; doing so would be almost impossible given the wide variety of recipes presented here. Instead, this book concentrates on focused problems users are likely to encounter and shows clear solutions in a step-by-step manner. This book tries to teach by example and is not afraid to show a lot of code because, after all, it is for coders. This book is for current users of the Apache Wicket framework; it is not an introduction to Wicket that will bore you with tons of theory. You are expected to have built or maintained a simple Wicket application in the past and to be looking to learn new and better ways of using Wicket. If you are ready to take your Wicket skills to the next level this book is for you.

Want to learn more information about Apache Wicket Cookbook?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Beginning CakePHP: From Novice to Professional (Expert's Voice in Web Development) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Beginning CakePHP: From Novice to Professional (Expert's Voice in Web Development)? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Beginning CakePHP: From Novice to Professional (Expert's Voice in Web Development). Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Beginning CakePHP: From Novice to Professional (Expert's Voice in Web Development) ReviewThe book is overall well written, however the series title is misleading. I could have easily labeled this 3 stars.
PROS:
- Well written. (Few tech authors have this skill)
- Overall good cover of the basics
- Full code is provided, author has a forum where he answers some questions.
- He shows good code practices
CONS:
- This book should be in the series: "From Novice to having some understanding". It does not cover ACL at all, and the cover of the basic Auth component is incredibly basic and lacking. Most of the examples are very simple, so you won't be getting to be a "Professional" with this book. The tile is ok "Beginning CakePHP" but by no means expect this book to cover in depth topics of challenging issues.
- The book is one big project that keeps adding on things - which is good. But the author decided to go for a Blog... Please another application? Pretty please? There are about a million blog tutorials out there, he could have gone the extra mile by giving us an interesting (i.e realistic) project. There is already a good blog tutorial on the cakephp.org site. Yes, the author does take the blog further in this book (he better, it's 300 pages) but still.
- Not the author's fault - but be warned that the book is for RC1 - and believe me, you will struggle figuring out why the provided code is not working and why so many errors (if you are using RC2 or beyond).
- All the examples except 1 are straight out of the box CAKEPHP built in things - which is fine, but real projects usually require you to stretch things, change some models to be used differently.
- The "Advanced features" chapter is a joke. It spends less than 1 page in most of those advance features. Basically, you are on your own. And a whopping of 6 pages on the forms helper. (Web applications live on forms, a whole book could be written on the topic).
I gave it 4 stars for being a clearly written book on CakePHP, but don't expect this book will be more than an introduction, with a few nice gems.Beginning CakePHP: From Novice to Professional (Expert's Voice in Web Development) OverviewAll other attempts at translating CakePHP for new users are either too technical or lack enough information. This book is tailored for those new to Cake and who want a thorough tutorial. The biggest advantage for reading this book is that it really stands alone in the repertoire of CakePHP documentation, and little work is scheduled to become available anytime soon.It's to a PHP developer's advantage to try out Cake and to get a favorable introduction to the framework, which is precisely what this book provides.Beginning CakePHP is one of the first if not the first book in the market that leads the reader through extensive web application development in CakePHP, one of the leading popular growing open source Web frameworks. It gives a how-to approach to Cake rather than a dictionary-type reference, that culminates in an extensive practical blogging application example.

Want to learn more information about Beginning CakePHP: From Novice to Professional (Expert's Voice in Web Development)?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Beginning PHP and MySQL: From Novice to Professional (Expert's Voice in Web Development) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Beginning PHP and MySQL: From Novice to Professional (Expert's Voice in Web Development)? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Beginning PHP and MySQL: From Novice to Professional (Expert's Voice in Web Development). Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Beginning PHP and MySQL: From Novice to Professional (Expert's Voice in Web Development) ReviewThis book is written for someone who is familiar with other programming languages and databases and now wants to use PHP and MySQL. It is not written for somebody completely new to programming. For example, if you came from Perl or ASP, and you wanted to know how arrays, loops, and objects in PHP, this book will cover that.
The topic coverage is broad but not deep. The book has a feel of "semi-reference" in that each topic stands on its own. This is not a cookbook or "learn by example" book. There is enough information to get you started, but if you have a complex/niche problem, this book will not help you. For more information, you will have to consult books that specialize on the topic you are interested.
I have one major gripe with this book. There is not any significant coverage of XML manipulation or XSL/XSLT aspects of PHP. When you look at the table of contents or index, there is no mention of XSL/XSLT and only a brief mention of XML (and RSS) in the Web Services chapter. For a book that covers a lot of subjects, this is a weak area.Beginning PHP and MySQL: From Novice to Professional (Expert's Voice in Web Development) Overview
Beginning PHP and MySQL: From Novice to Professional, Fourth Edition is a major update of W. Jason Gilmore's authoritative book on PHP and MySQL. The fourth edition includes complete coverage of PHP 5.3 features, including namespacing, an update ofAMP stack installation and configuration, updates to Zend Framework, coverage of MySQL Workbench, and much more.

You'll not only receive extensive introductions to the core features of PHP, MySQL, and related tools, but you'll also learn how to effectively integratethem in order to build robust data-driven applications. Gilmore has seven years of experience working with these technologies, and he has packed this book with practical examples and insight into the real-world challenges faced by developers. Accordingly, you will repeatedly return to this book as both a valuable instructional tool and reference guide.

What you'll learn
How to install and configure Apache, PHP 5.3, and MySQL
PHP and object-oriented programming basics
New PHP 5.3 features and how to use them
How to move beyond basic PHP, including using the Zend Framework
How to use MySQL to securely store your website's data
How to use MySQL Workbench to manage your database

Who this book is for
Developers who want to harness PHP and MySQL to create powerful web applications

Table of Contents
Introducing PHP
Configuring Your Environment
PHP Basics
Functions
Arrays
Object-Oriented PHP
Advanced OOP Features
Error and Exception Handling
Strings and Regular Expressions
Working with the File and Operating System
PEAR
Date and Time
Forms
Authenticating Your Users
Handling File Uploads
Networking
PHP and LDAP
Session Handlers
Templating with Smarty
Web Services
Secure PHP Programming
IntegratingjQuery and PHP
Building Web Sites for the World
MVC and the Zend Framework
Introducing MySQL
Installing and Configuring MySQL
The Many MySQL Clients
MySQL Storage Engines and Datatypes
Securing MySQL
Using PHP with MySQL
Introducing PDO
Stored Routines
MySQL Triggers
MySQL Views
Practical Database Queries
Indexes and Searching
Transactions
Importing and Exporting Data


Want to learn more information about Beginning PHP and MySQL: From Novice to Professional (Expert's Voice in Web Development)?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

PHP and MySQL Web Development (4th Edition) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy PHP and MySQL Web Development (4th Edition)? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on PHP and MySQL Web Development (4th Edition). Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

PHP and MySQL Web Development (4th Edition) ReviewAlthough i love the book itself and would give it a 5 star rating, i have to say that the Kindle edition is a blatant rip off. First, its the same price as the paperback with a CD-Rom included, second, they did not bother to make the sources of the CD-Rom available (via a Website) to those who bought it electronically ... . Searched in vain for a link to an online resource for the examples until i got confirmation that this is not included in the electronic delivery (even though its full price) ...PHP and MySQL Web Development (4th Edition) OverviewPHP and MySQL are popular open-source technologies that are ideal for quickly developing database-driven Web applications. PHP is a powerful scripting language designed to enable developers to create highly featured Web applications quickly, and MySQL is a fast, reliable database that integrates well with PHP and is suited for dynamic Internet-based applications.
PHP and MySQL Web Development shows how to use these tools together to produce effective, interactive Web applications. It clearly describes the basics of the PHP language, explains how to set up and work with a MySQL database, and then shows how to use PHP to interact with the database and the server.

This practical, hands-on book includes numerous examples that demonstrate common tasks such as authenticating users, constructing a shopping cart, generating PDF documents and images dynamically, sending and managing email, facilitating user discussions, connecting to Web services using XML, and developing Web 2.0 applications with Ajax-based interactivity.

The fourth edition of PHP and MySQL Web Development has been thoroughly updated, revised, and expanded to cover developments in PHP 5 through version 5.3, such as namespaces and closures, as well as features introduced in MySQL 5.1.





Want to learn more information about PHP and MySQL Web Development (4th Edition)?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Microsoft® ASP.NET and AJAX: Architecting Web Applications (PRO-Developer) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Microsoft® ASP.NET and AJAX: Architecting Web Applications (PRO-Developer)? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Microsoft® ASP.NET and AJAX: Architecting Web Applications (PRO-Developer). Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Microsoft® ASP.NET and AJAX: Architecting Web Applications (PRO-Developer) ReviewDino is a well respected author and developer. I have read at least five of his books. They range from old school ADO.NET to architecting web applications for the enterprise (highly recommend that read). This book is well written and organized. The content is heavy on the front end as the title suggests. You will explore the kludgy innards of JavaScript. jQuery and many Ajax approaches are also considered. In addition, Dino puts his own personal spin on patterns and processes.
The book starts very well with a background in the Ajax surge. It then jumps into the client side, patterns, binding to the client and ends with RIA's. Overall this is solid and I recommend the read if not quick skimming after the fifth chapter.
However, .NET 4.0 is right around the corner. The client side bindings, more jQuery integration and updated Microsoft Ajax JavaScript libraries will change a lot of how this book approaches Ajax. Therefore, its an interim book for those not looking to move to 4.0 and live in at least the 3.5 world for the foreseeable future.
It delves into Silverlight a bit and. But has no mention of the ground swell of popularity that is ASP.NET MVC and its fairly elegant Ajax approach. One of the highlights is Dino's insight into the pros and cons of partial rendering vs. full scale asynchronous approaches. I have been on an enterprise application where we had to implement the former. He nailed the reasons why.
Read this book if you want a good background in current technologies that are changing at the speed of light. It won't be a gold source for later pick up and review though.Microsoft® ASP.NET and AJAX: Architecting Web Applications (PRO-Developer) Overview
Rethink the way you plan, design, and build Web applications-with expert guidance from Web development luminary Dino Esposito. Whether giving legacy sites a much-needed tune-up-or architecting rich Internet applications from the ground up-you'll learn pragmatic approaches to AJAX development that you can employ today.

Discover how to:

Delve into the mechanics and design goals of partial rendering-such as improving page-refresh speed
Use AJAX-enabled server controls to bring desktop-like functionality to Web solutions
Apply design patterns to common Web development issues, including client-side data binding
Manipulate JavaScript more easily using the jQuery and Microsoft AJAX libraries
Examine the interoperability and security models in Microsoft Silverlight
Weigh the tradeoffs when architecting Web applications for richness (Silverlight) vs. reach (AJAX)-and deliver the right solution for your audience


Want to learn more information about Microsoft® ASP.NET and AJAX: Architecting Web Applications (PRO-Developer)?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

jQuery Plugin Development Beginner's Guide Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy jQuery Plugin Development Beginner's Guide? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on jQuery Plugin Development Beginner's Guide. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

jQuery Plugin Development Beginner's Guide ReviewI'm already an experienced Javascript and jQuery Plugin developer, but I learned how to author plugins by first reading a general jQuery book (which didn't cover writing plugins at all) and then by doing. I decided it was time to take a look at a book dedicated to plugin development and discover if I was overlooking anything.
Being a beginner book, I expected a fair amount of hand-holding and was prepared to skim through, but I ended up actually reading the first chapters in full because they were skimming for me. I felt the topics actually weren't fleshed out well enough to answer the questions a beginner would have. The aim didn't seem to bring beginner's up to speed, but to introduce only. I'd call this book more of a "beginner's introduction".
I didn't care for the "Have a go hero" sections. It not only sounds stupid in your head when you read that header, but I would have expected the book to demonstrate those tasks and not leave the reader (the beginner) on their own. "I've now shown you that a plane takes off by pulling back on the stick ... now go learn to point it in the right direction, avoid bad weather and land ... hero".
Adding to my disappointed was that the style of writing, IMO, was overly convoluted and a bit awkward at times.jQuery Plugin Development Beginner's Guide OverviewAjQuery plugin is simply a way to put your code into a package,whichmakes it easier to maintain your code and use across different projects. While basic scripting is relatively straightforward,writing pluginscan leave people scratching their heads.This book takes you beyond the basics of jQuery and enables you to take full advantage of jQuery's powerfulplugin architecture to deliver highly interactive content to yourwebsite users.The book contains all the information you need to successfullyauthor your very own jQuery plugin with a particular focus on thepractical aspect of design and development.It will also cover some details of real life plugins andexplain their functioning to gain a better understanding of the overallconcept of plugin development and jQuery plugin architecture.Different topics regarding plugin development are discussed,and youwill learn how to develop many types of add-ons,ranging from mediaplugins (such as slideshows,video and audio controls, and so on) tovarious utilities (image pre-loading,handling cookies) and use andapplications of jQuery effects and animations (sliding, fading,combined animations) to eventually demonstrate how all of these plugins can bemerged and give birth to a new, more complex,and multi purpose scriptthat comes in handy in a lot of situations.What you will learn from this book
Create numerous types of commonly used jQuery plugins
Design a standard development pattern to apply to all your plugins to speed up the process
Build plugins that enhance viewer's multimedia experience on your website
Learn how to build attractive animation plugins that show effects like fading and sliding
Discover how jQuery handles third party plugins and how some portions of code can(not) be accessed
Implement time saving design patterns and best practices to optimize your plugins
Learn the ins and outs of some of the most popular plugins and how they actually work to do what they do
Learn via an in-depth practical approach,providing you with asimple, yet effective,structure to minimize efforts and obtain betterresults quickly
This book takes a beginner's guide approach,giving you step-by-stepinstructions for creating a number of different jQuery plugins coveringmost of the common issues one may encounter. It's a practical guide,which will show you how to designand build the most commonly used jQuery plugins.

Want to learn more information about jQuery Plugin Development Beginner's Guide?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Applied jQuery: Develop and Design Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Applied jQuery: Develop and Design? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Applied jQuery: Develop and Design. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Applied jQuery: Develop and Design ReviewThe author claims that the source code is available on line but the site currently is not operational so I will wait for the site to come online before making this purchase.Applied jQuery: Develop and Design OverviewApplied jQuery teaches readers how to quickly start writing application interfaces. The beautifully designed book offers practical techniques and provides lots of real-world advice and guidance. The Author, Jay Blanchard, has practical experience working in the field and wastes no time getting to the instruction, taking the reader from a beginner to a proficient interface programmer by the end of the book. Today's Web developers are are expected to be well versed in many different technologies. While it is good to have a shelf full of books that focus on single technologies, having a book that shows developers how to combine these technologies is key. This book takes the reader beyond the fundamental mechanics of individual technologies to illustrate the value and power of combining jQuery and PHP with templates and layouts handled by HTML and CSS. Beginning to intermediate web developers designing and developing web application interfaces and web sites will learn how to blend these ingredient technologies, as well as how to secure jQuery.

Want to learn more information about Applied jQuery: Develop and Design?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

jQuery Mobile Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy jQuery Mobile? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on jQuery Mobile. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

jQuery Mobile ReviewI thought this book "okay" for getting started with jQuery Mobile. However, I thought this book was going to be more than just a small introduction to jQuery Mobile. Don't get me wrong, it does provide enough information to get you going in developing your jQuery Mobile website, BUT it lacks in proper documentation.
This book was below my expectations for an O'Reilly book. You are better off just going to the jQuery Mobile website, and reading their documentation in all honesty. Beware though, even the jQuery Mobile website documentation isn't all that clear,also. So you will have to experiment.jQuery Mobile Overview
Native apps have distinct advantages, but the future belongs to mobile web apps that function on a broad range of smartphones and tablets. Get started with jQuery Mobile, the touch-optimized framework for creating apps that look and behave consistently across many devices. This concise book provides HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript code examples, screen shots, and step-by-step guidance to help you build a complete working app with jQuery Mobile.

If you're already familiar with the jQuery JavaScript library, you can use your existing skills to build cross-platform mobile web apps right now. This book shows you how.

Get a high-level overview of jQuery Mobile: how it works and how to use it
Learn about paging and navigation, including dialogs, Ajax content, and history
Employ jQuery Mobile's extensive event system to create rich interactions
Work with toolbars, buttons, lists, forms, and other UI elements
Create a variety of visual designs with jQuery Mobile's sophisticated theming system
Use the jQuery Mobile API for finer control over elements and interactions
Put everything together and build a mobile app from start to finish


Want to learn more information about jQuery Mobile?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Learning jQuery 1.3 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Learning jQuery 1.3? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Learning jQuery 1.3. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Learning jQuery 1.3 ReviewI'm a programmer with lots of experience in several languages, although I never learned JavaScript -- nor had I done client-side web programming outside of static (X)HTML and CSS.
I decided it was time to close this gap, so I chose JQuery as my framework to abstract away the headaches I'd heard about JavaScript, and I chose Learning jQuery 1.3 as my means to learn the platform.
The book provides an excellent tour of jQuery's capabilities, although the jQuery UI package is not covered (the publisher offers this in a different book).
Each chapter covers a different aspect of jQuery programming, starting with simple examples and finishing with complex/completed functionality. Since this was my first dive into browser-side programming, I also found the book to be an excellent overview for creating the various behaviors I'd seen in practice (such as animating web content, validating forms, and refreshing data without refreshing the page).
New concepts are introduced along the way, and potential "gotchas" are exposed by presenting them as what you think you'd do next -- but are then followed by an explanation as to why it's the wrong thing to do. The book also contains an overview of many of the more popular jQuery plug-ins.
You're best off downloading the accompanying source code if you want to try the examples yourself, because non-relevant portions of the code and accompanying CSS don't always appear in the text. My only complaint lies with the example code: It isn't always well-commented. jQuery's syntax and extensive chaining can sometimes be non-intuitive, so good commenting is a must in a book like this.
Learning jQuery 1.3 OverviewBetter Interaction Design and Web Development with Simple JavaScript Techniques
An introduction to jQuery that requires minimal programming experience
Detailed solutions to specific client-side problems
For web designers to create interactive elements for their designs
For developers to create the best user interface for their web applications
Packed with great examples, code, and clear explanations
Revised and updated version of the first book to help you learn jQuery

In Detail
To build interesting, interactive sites, developers are turning to JavaScript libraries such as jQuery to automate common tasks and simplify complicated ones. Because many web developers have more experience with HTML and CSS than with JavaScript, the library's design lends itself to a quick start for designers with little programming experience. Experienced programmers will also be aided by its conceptual consistency.
Revised and updated for version 1.3 of jQuery, this book teaches you the basics of jQuery for adding interactions and animations to your pages. Even if previous attempts at writing JavaScript have left you baffled, this book will guide you past the pitfalls associated with AJAX, events, effects, and advanced JavaScript language features.
In this book, the authors share their knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm about jQuery to help you get the most from the library and to make your web applications shine. The book introduces jQuery and shows how you can write a functioning jQuery program in just three lines of code. It then guides you through CSS selectors and shows how to enhance the basic event handling mechanisms to give them a more elegant syntax. You will then learn to add impact to your actions through a set of simple visual effects and also to create, copy, reassemble, and embellish content using jQuery's DOM modification methods. You will also learn to send and retrieve information with AJAX methods. The book will then step you through many detailed, real-world examples and even equip you to extend the jQuery library itself with your own plug-ins.
What you will learn from this book?
This book will give you the tools you need to be on the cutting edge of the web development community. With these techniques at your disposal, you can:
Use selectors to get anything you want from a page
Make things happen on your page with events
Add flair to your actions with animation effects
Change your page on command with DOM manipulation
Use AJAX to get the most out of server-side code
Transform drab, static information containers into beautiful, dynamic tables
Breathe new life into online forms
Create dynamic shufflers, rotators, and galleries
Get started with official jQuery plug-ins
Customize by writing your own jQuery plug-ins
Approach
This book begins with a tutorial to jQuery, followed by an examination of common, real-world client-side problems, and solutions to each of them making it an invaluable resource for answers to all your jQuery questions.
Who this book is written for?
This book is for web designers who want to create interactive elements for their designs, and for developers who want to create the best user interface for their web applications. Basic JavaScript programming knowledge is required. You will need to know the basics of HTML and CSS, and should be comfortable with the syntax of JavaScript. No knowledge of jQuery is assumed, nor is experience with any other JavaScript libraries required.


Want to learn more information about Learning jQuery 1.3?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Smashing jQuery (Smashing Magazine Book Series) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Smashing jQuery (Smashing Magazine Book Series)? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Smashing jQuery (Smashing Magazine Book Series). Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Smashing jQuery (Smashing Magazine Book Series) ReviewHaving recently completed one of Smashing Magazine's other titles, I had high hopes for this title.
While some of the information in the book is useful, it is a far cry from most of the other jQuery titles available and the section on the jQueryUI is practically non-existent. Aside from a brief explanation of the ThemeRoller, the examples of the UI widgets that are there merely tell you how to connect them with an element, with absolutely no explanation of their functionality.
Perhaps the worst thing about this title, however, is the sheer amount of errata the book has to offer. Nearly every other page has a mistake in syntax that quickly becomes confusing and leaves the reader spending more time sorting out the errors than they do actually reading the book. One example includes quotation marks in the syntax in one paragraph, which is suddenly missing in the next. Another, and perhaps the most ridiculous, are references in the jQuery code to class names that don't even exist in the mark-up.
To top this all off, there is absolutely no support on the book's website to report said errata. After all of this nonsense I tossed the book into the garage sale pile and moved on to greener pastures.Smashing jQuery (Smashing Magazine Book Series) OverviewFrom the world's most popular resource for web designers and developer's comes the ultimate guide to jQuery

Begins with an exploration of fundamental jQuery concepts such as Document Object Model (DOM) scripting
Explores writing "Don't Repeat Yoursefl" (DRY) to gain a comprehensive understanding of these imperative modern techniques and best practices
Shows how jQuery enables the user to adhere to these modern best practices with ease
The succeeding chapters discuss a specific part of jQuery development such as manipulating the DOM, working with Ajax, and adding slick animation effects through tutorial style learning approach that utilizes working examples to explore the concept
The books caps off by discussing popular ways of extending the core jQuery library with pugins and building web interfaces using jQuery UI


Want to learn more information about Smashing jQuery (Smashing Magazine Book Series)?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

jQuery in Action, Second Edition Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy jQuery in Action, Second Edition? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on jQuery in Action, Second Edition. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

jQuery in Action, Second Edition ReviewThese comments (and the star rating) are very specifically from the point of view of someone who wants to add some interactivity and AJAX to web pages using the most straightforward efficient method, which is with JQuery.
THE GOOD: These guys absolutely know JQuery and JavaScript. They are fluent experts and authorities. They know the minute details and the inner guts. Also, they put a great deal of effort into this book. They built some good downloadable learning tools for the early sections and thought about the organization of the material.
THE BAD: Too few examples. Often complex commands are introduced without even an example to illustrate the syntax.
(FOR EXAMPLE, early on when selectors are discussed, they introduce a selector that requires quotes. That selector itself must be contained in quotes. They never show how the quotes within quotes syntax is handled).
The examples that are included are often not simple or straightforward. To illustrate AJAX their example gratuitously includes a custom plugin. I'd much rather have more examples of variations of the AJAX calls in the AJAX section instead of one long clunky example that illustrates only limited cases of the various jQuery Ajax methods. In several cases, The most complex JQuery method with more than a dozen possible parameters is simply listed with the parameters barely explained with no examples at all. Maybe if I was a professional JavaScript programmer a lot of the left out stuff would be trivial or obvious. But it wasn't for me.
In other places there is a surfeit of unnecessary technical material. The chapter on events, for example, starts off with long sections on the DOM event model and cross browser issues without a HINT that those issues aren't material to the JQuery user (that's the point! JQuery handles that stuff so I don't need to know).
Stylistically, these guys seem to be inspired either by ad copy (there is a ridiculous excess of exclamations!) or by programming blogs. They have the a fondness for jargon and dogma that seems to be the morass of the self-educated technophile. Many pages are wasted with examples of How HORRIBLE it was in the days before jQuery. In some sections (like the beginning of the AJAX section) they elaborate on the complexities of browser differences for AJAX calls. One of the most complicated sections in the book, only to show that you really don't need to know any of that stuff thanks to The Miracle of jQuery! (!))
INTERNET EXPLORER: As far as these guys are concerned, Internet Explorer is a bastard stepchild marginal fringe case. They seem embarrassed and appalled that they have to mention it within their pristine pages. OK. They don't like it. But more than half the browsers out there are IE and IE 8 continues to have its own quirks and not follow standards. DEAL WITH IT. JQuery itself has very much code dedicated to sorting out IE issues. It would be nice if the authors would hit that issue head on. A simple list of the various things you can do with JQuery that fix previous browser difficulties that required different code (CSS properties or JavaScript DOM issues) would be nice. Dealing with Internet Explorer hassles (and cross browser hassles in general) is one of the great gifts of JQuery.
Marginalizing that gift because of a distaste for the major browser (like it or not) just is not helpful. I'm not saying they deny the existence of IE. They just don't make it a focus at any point.
FIREBUG: The authors wait till quite late in the book and then treat it as a sort of aside. Firebug is THE javascript debugger for Firefox. The authors (in their brief aside) acknowledge that no one should be writing anything in JavaScript (and so, in jQuery) without using a debugger. Firebug is a fantastic learning tool for jQuery and makes the downloadable "lab" pages the authors provide more or less unnecessary. Since the authors clearly use Firebug themselves and acknowledge how useful and important it is, why do they barely give it a mention? I bet they used it when they were learning jQuery.
I don't like giving a book like this which clearly shows the earmarks of expertise and hard work a negative review. It may be the best JQuery book out there (I haven't read any others yet), but this book seriously needs some editing. Either that or I am simply the wrong audience. I do believe a professional JavaScript programmer would get more out of this than I did.
But in any event, the book should decide if it wants to be a reference, a tutorial, or both. I just think it's not a great introduction to a great subject. And I know it's a lousy reference, because I tried to go back to some chapters to look up syntax. Hard to find. Hard to read. And few examples.
jQuery in Action, Second Edition Overview
A really good web development framework anticipates your needs. jQuery does more-it practically reads your mind. Developers fall in love with this JavaScript library the moment they see 20 lines of code reduced to three. jQuery is concise and readable.

jQuery in Action, Second Edition is a fast-paced introduction and guide. It shows you how to traverse HTML documents, handle events, perform animations, and add Ajax to your web pages. The book's unique "lab pages" anchor the explanation of each new concept in a practical example. You'll learn how jQuery interacts with other tools and frameworks and how to build jQuery plugins.

This revised and expanded second edition includes even more lab pages than before, along with numerous examples that show the latest best practices developed by the jQuery community. It provides full coverage of jQuery 1.4, along with a deeper look at the ever-expanding world of jQuery plug-ins.

This book requires some knowledge of JavaScript and Ajax but no previous experience with jQuery.


Want to learn more information about jQuery in Action, Second Edition?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

jQuery Cookbook: Solutions & Examples for jQuery Developers (Animal Guide) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy jQuery Cookbook: Solutions & Examples for jQuery Developers (Animal Guide)? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on jQuery Cookbook: Solutions & Examples for jQuery Developers (Animal Guide). Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

jQuery Cookbook: Solutions & Examples for jQuery Developers (Animal Guide) ReviewMuch anticipated jQuery cookbook that was well worth the wait.
This cookbook will serve any (beginner to intermediate) jQuery/web 2.0 developer with 150+ easy to grasp "recipes". Nothing groundbreaking here, just great scripts that do 95% of what you need to do faster/efficiently. END NOTE: I was hoping for more AJAX-jQuery or JSON related material. This book with jQuery in Action is a good combo.
jQuery Cookbook: Solutions & Examples for jQuery Developers (Animal Guide) Overview
jQuery simplifies building rich, interactive web frontends. Getting started with this JavaScript library is easy, but it can take years to fully realize its breadth and depth; this cookbook shortens the learning curve considerably. With these recipes, you'll learn patterns and practices from 19 leading developers who use jQuery for everything from integrating simple components into websites and applications to developing complex, high-performance user interfaces. Ideal for newcomers and JavaScript veterans alike, jQuery Cookbook starts with the basics and then moves to practical use cases with tested solutions to common web development hurdles. You also get recipes on advanced topics, such as methods for applying jQuery to large projects.



Solve problems involving events, effects, dimensions, forms, themes, and user interface elements
Learn how to enhance your forms, and how to position and reposition elements on a page
Make the most of jQuery's event management system, including custom events and custom event data
Create UI elements-such as tabs, accordions, and modals-from scratch
Optimize your code to eliminate bottlenecks and ensure peak performance
Learn how to test your jQuery applications

The book's contributors include:



Cody Lindley
James Padolsey
Ralph Whitbeck
Jonathan Sharp
Michael Geary and Scott González
Rebecca Murphey
Remy Sharp
Ariel Flesler
Brian Cherne
Jörn Zaefferer
Mike Hostetler
Nathan Smith
Richard D. Worth
Maggie Wachs, Scott Jehl, Todd Parker, and Patty Toland
Rob Burns


Want to learn more information about jQuery Cookbook: Solutions & Examples for jQuery Developers (Animal Guide)?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...